The consultant lobbyist The consultant lobbyist is a person who is gainfully employed or not and whose occupation is to lobby on behalf of a client in exchange for money, benefits or other forms of compensation. Consultant lobbyists may work for public relations firms or be self-employed. For example, he or she might be a public relations expert, a lawyer, an engineer, an architect, an urban planner, etc.

Example: Henry is a lawyer paid by his client to intervene with the Ministère de l'Environnement so that he may arrange for the policy on the use of pesticides to be modified.

The enterprise lobbyist This is a person who holds a job or has duties in a profit-making organization, whose duties include, for a significant part, lobbying on behalf of the firm.

Example: Louise works for a firm which specializes in concrete. Her duties especially include making representations to the Ministère des Transports to help promote the use of concrete in road construction.

The organization lobbyist This is a person who holds a job or has duties in a non-profit organization. Like the enterprise lobbyist, this lobbyist is affected by the Act if a significant part of his or her duties is to lobby on behalf of this organization.

Example: Genny works for the Association of office equipment manufacturers. Her duties mostly consist in making representations to the City of Montréal to obtain contracts for members of her association.

It is important to note that not all organization lobbyists are subject to the Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act.

Only the organizations constitued to serve management, union or professional interests, or the majority of whose members are profit-seeking enterprises or representatives of such enterprises, are subject to the rules regulating the practice of lobbying activities. Chambers of commerce, the Conseil du patronat du Québec, the Barreau du Québec, the Québec Medical Association (QMA) and the Québec Federation of Labour (FTQ) are some of the organizations affected by the Act.

On the other hand, Greenpeace, Centraide, the Association of persons suffering from depression or a group of citizens advocating municipal demergers are among non-profit organizations that are not within the scope of the Act, except when they hire a consultant lobbyist to promote their interests.